From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishas distinct from somethingas distinct from somethingused to make it clear that you are not referring to a particular kind of thing, but to something else a movie star, as distinct from an actor → distinct
Examples from the Corpus
as distinct from something• There were increasing demands for a national policy for the unemployed as distinct from central support of local efforts.• Piaget allows two years for the development of sensorimotor intelligence as distinct from conceptual intelligence.• I want it to go on because I've just recently begun to enjoy it as distinct from experiencing it.• The buffers and draw gear were spring type, as distinct from india rubber as used on some.• I have seldom felt the need to recognise these as distinct from rise-fall and fall-rise respectively.• Originally, chamber music meant secular music, or that of the court as distinct from that of the Church.• They are a major and fundamental component of the system of the unconscious, as distinct from the conscious and preconscious systems.• Entrepreneurial strategies - as distinct from their managerial implementation - centre on investment, marketing and the form of company organisation. 